Game Picks - Monday: July 18, 2011

Nearly everything fell into place yesterday and good picks were aplenty. Only three games were incorrect picks. The Tigers scored late and with a little luck to take one game from the White Sox. The Reds were aided by a questionable call at second and beat the picked Cardinals. And picking the Mets to beat the Phillies for a second straight game meant this picker must have had bats in his Pelfrey. With the Yankees winning early and these three picks being early games, the day started 1-3 before this picker ran the table on the rest of the day.

And there were some good picks. Daniel Hudson was a great pick as he single-handedly beat the Dodgers with his arm and his bat. The Orioles were picked to win their second game in a row and did. The Rangers swept the Mariners as predicted. Was Matt Harrison that good or was the Mariner offense that bad? And it took sixteen innings but the Red Sox beat the Bay Rays to open up an even bigger lead against the Rays in the AL East and push the Rays closer to making that Upton trade. Yes, it was a good day.

Monday offers a pretty good slate of games with twelve games on tap including a double dip in Minnesota against the Indians. The picks for Monday are:

• The Indans and Twins split their double-header: The Twins will probably win their first game with Anthony Swarzak facing David Huff, recalled from Triple A to pitch this game. The Indians will probably win the second game. Fausto Carmona comes off the disabled list and isn't great this season, but the Twins recall Scott Diamond from the minors to make his major league debut. Diamond's stats in the minors weren't great.
• The Red Sox over the Orioles: A very tired Red Sox behind Tim Wakefield should still be better than the Orioles behind Brad Bergesen, who is having an awful season.
• The Pirates over the Reds: Until Dontrelle Willis can string successful starts in a row, he can't be trusted. James McDonald has been pretty darned good of late.
• The Mets over the Marlins: Chris Capuano is a solid pitcher this season. But the Marlins are starting Clay Hensley. What!? Seriously? He is a relief pitcher and hasn't started since 2008 and he's been hurt.
• The Yankees over the Bay Rays: Yes, A. J. Burnett is about as predictable as a squirrel in the road in the path of an oncoming car. But the Bay Rays have to be gassed and their entire bullpen has to be worn out. Plus, they start young Alex Cobb.
• The Nationals over the Astros: The Nationals have quietly gone about having a quality season and are nearly as good a story as the Pirates, except the Nats play in the wrong division. Jason Marquis should win over the winless Jordan Lyles.
• The White Sox over the Royals: Mark Buehrle will bamboozle the Royals who start Kyle Davies, the worst starting pitcher in the history of Major League Baseball.
• The Rockies over the Braves: Derek Lowe relies on movement and movement is always diminished in Coors Field. Jason Hammel isn't a Field of Dreams either, but, the Rockies should win.
• The Diamondbacks over the Brewers: The D-backs jumped all over Randy Wolf in their last meeting. They should do so again and get a solid outing from Josh Collmenter.
• The Giants over the Dodgers: Is any team as confounding as the Giants? How do they do it? Ryan Vogelsong is having a storybook season. Clay Billingsley could be very good, or...

And the Game of the Day!

• The Phillies over the Cubs: Is Roy Halladay versus Rodrigo Lopez one of the worst mismatches on paper that you've ever seen? Yeah, that's what this picker thinks too.

Yesterday: 12-3
Week: 12-3
Month: 112-86
Season: 766-647
Games of the Day: 68-38